Weekly Release Spotlight: Cloud Cult
Posted on 4/13/2008
Cloud Cult
Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)
[Earthology]
The last possible word that could be used to describe Craig Minowa, or for that matter any other piece of the gigantic Cloud Cult puzzle, is "reserved." The local ensemble's sixth full-length embodies this notion unabashedly, from the tongue-twister title to the bombastic orchestration to the ardent lyrical delivery. This kind of cosmopolitan hearts-on-the-sleeve wall of sound that Minowa and co. create seems at first a prime suspect for accusations of emotional manipulation or over-the-top melodrama, but even when Cloud Cult's music is critically scrutinized (now nationwide due to a rabidly growing fan base with each album), journalists and bloggers hardly ever mention anything of the sort. This is, simply put, because with the eclectic volume and buzzing theatrics oozes brutal honesty and genuine musical enthusiasm.
Perhaps even more noteworthy, Cloud Cult are not just totally real when in communication with their fans and critics, they are also completely real and loyal to themselves as musicians. Usually their refusal to record anywhere except their solar-powered studio is passively mentioned as a piece of indie trivia, but this fact isn't just a by-product of Cloud Cult, it is Cloud Cult. Feel Good Ghosts reminds us of that with every mention of our earth that we inhabit and destroy, the water which we drink and become, and the clouds that populate our skies and release life's liquid down upon us. Al Gore's sterile projection presentation this is not – with Cloud Cult's latest effort, we feel the messy pressure and joy of nature flowing through our bodies. And what's best is at the end of listening to the record, you manage to still not feel like a total hippie.
Minowa and every instrumentalist/vocalist he works with forgo worrying about sounding cool or part of any scene - they seem to instead opt for sounding like the multitude of varied aspects of our earth. If they are hippies, they are very sober and very cinematic-minded hippies. Every Cloud Cult song, no matter how loud or how quiet, has a climax that bleeds epiphany and celebration. To do this, they know that an incorporation of every piece of themselves that they can muster is 100% necessary to get the job done. "When Water Comes to Life" pounds its fists in the humid air without pause, "The Will of a Volcano" juts forth from the cliffs of the highest mountains, and the desperately glittering "Love You All" twitters along the feathers of a hummingbird gently landing on a blooming flower. Feel Good Ghosts sounds like the ghosts are indeed feeling good, and you will too, even after this life.
Stream: Cloud Cult - When Water Comes To Life
Cloud Cult will be playing the First Avenue Mainroom on April 26.
Written by Chris Polley, Radio K volunteer and host of Now Like Photographs.